In Syria, wave of deadly attacks against journalists

August 14, 2012 4:47 PM ET

New York, August 14, 2012--A series of attacks against
journalists in Syria over the past two weeks have included the killing of at
least three journalists and the kidnapping of several others, the Committee to
Protect Journalists said today. Pro-government media have borne the brunt of
the recent attacks.

"We call on all sides in Syria to remember that journalists
covering conflict are civilians and attacks against them constitute a serious
violation of international humanitarian law," said CPJ Deputy Director Robert
Mahoney. "Journalists have already paid a heavy price in Syria and are risking
their lives daily to cover the news. They must be protected."

Hatem Abu Yehia, a camera assistant with the pro-government
television station Al-Ikhbariya, is believed dead, his employer reported on Monday, according
to the SANA state news agency. Abu Yehia was kidnapped by rebels belonging to
the Free Syrian Army in the Damascus suburb of Al-Tal on Friday along with his
colleagues Yara al-Saleh, an anchor for the station, Abdullah Tubara, a cameraman,
and driver Hussam Imand, according to news
reports. The Al-Ikhbariya team was covering clashes in Al-Tal between
rebels and security forces when they were kidnapped, news reports said.

A video posted by the Free Syrian Army shows a rebel
spokesperson saying Abu Yehia was killed in government shelling of Al-Tal along
with two rebel fighters, The Associated Press reported.
The other two Al-Ikhbariya journalists and their driver appear in the video
saying they are in good health and being treated well, according to the AP.

On Saturday, Ali Abbas, head of domestic news at SANA, was
killed by unidentified gunmen at his home in Jdaidat Artouz in Damascus,
according to a statement
on SANA's website. Abbas' employer said he was killed by "armed terrorist
groups" as part of a campaign to silence government-aligned media, but provided
no further details. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that
unidentified gunmen shot Abbas in his home, according to news reports.

On the same day, Bara'a Yusuf al-Bushi, who contributed reports and footage to international
outlets including the pan-Arab news channel Al-Arabiya, Al-Jazeera, and Sky
News, was killed in government shelling of Al-Tal while covering clashes there,
Al-Arabiya reported.
Al-Bushi had defected to the Free Syrian Army in May from his mandatory government
military service, news reports said. His friend, a Syrian citizen journalist
who goes by the pseudonym Mattar Ismail, told CPJ that Al-Bushi graduated from
Damascus University with a journalism degree and wrote for the news website Syria News in 2009 before beginning his
military service in 2010.

CPJ is also concerned about the fate of Mohamed al-Saeed, a
state TV presenter. Al-Nusra Front, an armed Islamist group linked to Al-Qaeda,
claimed on the website of Shabkat Ansar al-Sham to have executed al-Saeed on
August 3 after kidnapping him on July 19 in Damascus, according to news
reports. Al-Saeed hosted a show called "Hadith al-Balad" (Talk of the
Country) for the state broadcaster, news reports said.
No news organizations have reported that they independently confirmed his
death.

On August 3, Talal Janbakeli, a cameraman for Syrian state
TV, was filming in Damascus when he was kidnapped by armed men from a rebel
group called Haroun al-Rashid Battalion, according to news reports. The
group posted a video
on YouTube with a frightened Janbakeli saying he had been captured. In the
video, armed men ask the cameraman what advice he has for his colleagues; he
responds that they should abandon President Bashar al-Assad and his army.

Attacks against pro-government media have increased over the
past couple of months. On August 6, a bomb ripped through the third floor of
the Syrian state TV and radio building in Damascus, according to news
reports. At least three people were wounded, news reports said. It was not
specified if the wounded were journalists. In June, CPJ documented
an attack against Al-Ikhbariya's headquarters which killed seven employees,
including at least two journalists.

The latest wave of attacks follows the release of two kidnapped
foreign journalists at the end of July after they were held captive for a week,
according to news
reports. John Cantlie, a British freelance photographer, and Jeroen
Oerlemans, a Dutch freelance photographer, were kidnapped by armed Islamic
militants while crossing into Syria from Turkey on July 19, news reports said.
Oerlemans told the media
that their capturers were not Syrian and that they were rescued by a group they
believed to be anti-government Syrian fighters.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The original version of this alert incorrectly said Al-Nusra Front claimed to have beheaded al-Saeed and that the statement was dated on August 4. The original version also incorrectly translated the name of an armed group as the Haroun al-Rashid Brigades.

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